new york city - fall 2003 - day 1

Our first day in the big city was better than I could have hoped.

We flew a US Air 1-stop to LaGuardia. For those who don't know, US Air filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a few months back. Part of their restructuring plans apparently included downsizing both their staff and the size of the planes that they fly because man, our plane was tiny! Even at the giant MSP airport, we still had to walk out on the tarmac and climb a little set of steps, just like you see people do on TV. When I got to the stop of the steps, I turned and gave the ground crew a big Nixon-style double peace sign wave, but nobody really seemed amused. I was, though.

Layover was in Pittsburgh. Surprisingly, the Pittsburgh airport also has Starbucks and Subway. Small world. After like a 45-minute break, we boarded, waited a while for some 'minor fuel problem' and then hit the skies for Manhattan. It was a short flight and we approached from the South, so we got a great view up the harbor on our way in. It was neat.

We landed, collected our luggage, and prepared for our first ride in New York taxi. Wasn't nearly as crazy as I thought, though there was plenty of horn honking and carsick-inducing breaking going on. The ride was only like $20 to our upper west side rental, which was way less than I thought it would be. Cabs are more expensive back in Minnesota. Must be the snowtires or something.

After talking with our sublet owner Margaret for a while, we gathered our stuff and headed down to Union Square. Jamie Oliver - The Naked Chef - was doing a book signing at the Barnes & Noble down there and since I'm such a huge fan, I wanted to have him sign a book or my breasts or something. He gave a silly little speech and then took questions from the audience. It was great.

Highlights

  • While walking around that evening, we saw the dude who plays the doctor friend on Ed. Celebrity sightings: 1.

  • On the way back to the apartment from Union Square, we stopped and bought a pizza. I broke my non-homemade pizza fast at 10:05 pm. It tasted good.

  • Libby and I are standing on the sidewalk next to our luggage after having been dropped off by the taxi. This stranger lady walked by, looked down at our bags, smiled, and said, "Welcome to New York." And she really meant it.